Glory Mathew (1114361)

Humanitarian approach to the study of abnormal psychology.

As and when middle age approached, the need to understand the unnatural human behavior in a scientific manner took a place. The age old superstitious and therapeutic manner in treating mental disorder got challenged to a large extent.  

The earliest critic was Paracelsus, a Swiss physician. He termed the mental disorders as a form of disease instead of the age old belief of possession. He criticized saying, its not a form of demonic possession but a mental disorder which needs to be treated clinically by "human magnetism", which later got termed as hypnotism. Although he was not of belief of demonology he did belief these disorders were caused by lunar or astral influences.

The next critic was a German physician named Johann Weyer. He studied the very act of witchcraft and the reasons behind it. Back in those days, people with mental disorders were termed as witches and imprisoned, tortured and eventually burned. However, Johann studied from the very start the reasons behind their abnormal behavior. He eventually was able to somehow prove that the people termed as witches were already sick mentally and/or physically and were treated ill unreasonably. He did however receive a lot of appreciation towards his work.

Since, there were a large number of critics towards the concept of demonology, the clergy and church which refused to believe in science eventually gave into the method of clinical science. This is when the concepts of shrines and asylums started to pick up.

Asylums were places of sanctuary for the people who were mentally unstable and could not fend or take care of themselves. These places were not of the best living conditions and were definitely not pleasant. These places were built in order to remove the troublesome from the society. However, eventually the ones who could care for themselves died amid the living conditions and the rest were to make it to see sunrise. During those days these asylums were called "madhouses", not exactly giving an ideal picture. The first asylum was probably established sometime during 1409 in Spain "the Valencia hospital". They became famous for their inhumane conditions and practices.

Eventually, there was an upsurge of asylums everywhere. San Hipolito was established in Mexico in 1566. La Maison deCharenton in France, 1641. Lunatic's Tower in 1784, Vienna. The inmates were usually treated as animals instead of basic humanitarian needs. They were displayed to the public at a nominal fee.

The methods of treatment were also very strange and inhumane. The patients would be subjected to ice cold water, shock therapy, bleeding, etc.

As and when time passed by, the need for reform towards these asylums were very much required. One such early reformer was Philippe Pinel who tried to give humanitarian method of treatment to the mentally sick.

Eventually, humanitarian approach gave way to learning mental disorders as not only a science but also not anywhere related to demonology. In the 20th century humanistic approach gave way to psychologists such as B.F. Skinner and Sigmund Freud who came up with terms such as psychoanalysis, behaviorism and self actualization. 

Today we have various number of disorders under the umbrella term "mental disorders". The humanitarian approach gave way to the new way of thinking and treating disorders which otherwise would have been termed as demonology.